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Midwest Living Holiday Cookbook 2009

All the recipes from our 2009 annual holiday cookbook. Whether you're looking for impressive main dishes, delicious breads, savory sides or decadent desserts, these recipes will help you celebrate in good taste.

Rolled Spinach Pork Loin

Roll a pork loin roast around layers of bacon, chopped spinach and Parmesan cheese to create this appealing holiday main dish, from Turkey Run Inn in Terre Haute, Indiana. When checking the temp of this roast, make sure the thermometer hits meat, not filling.

Grilled Turkey Breast with Spiced Almond Butter

When you are feeding only a few for the holidays, choose a turkey breast rather than a whole bird. Our nut butter adds a hint of citrus alongside the allspice and pepper. Roast the meat on the grill or in your oven.

Harvest Salad with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

Cooked chicken turns this colorful salad into a quick main dish, or use some of your bumper crop of leftover turkey. Walnut oil adds a nutty flavor to vinaigrette in this salad from Clabber Girl Bake Shop in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Mix and Match Bread Dressing

Whether you're looking to tweak your favorite dressing or create a new tradition, Mix and Match Bread Dressing meets the challenge. Start with the basic recipe, then try one of the blends shown at left or craft a custom version.

Peppermint Brownie Pie

This rich blend of two favorite holiday flavors—chocolate and mint—might start a new dessert tradition in your house. Can't find the mint-flavored pieces? Use regular chocolate chips and add 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract to the batter.

Ginger-Cinnamon Apple Crisp

"This is a twist on a popular dish and is one of my personal favorites," says April Osburn from the Clabber Girl Bake Shop in Terre Haute, Indiana. Thinly slice the apples so they get done in the allotted baking time.

Orange Popcorn Gorp

The sweetness of dried fruit and chocolate meets salty pretzels and popcorn in our easy food gift. Pour the snack mix in a jar, and cover the lid with a circle of colorful scrapbooking paper. Grosgrain ribbon around the edge of the lid pairs with yarn and a tag to complete the package.

Rachel Sandwiches

Len Skvor trades the traditional corned beef for thinly sliced turkey in this twist on a classic Reuben at his Cork 'n Fork Deli 'n Grill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. To reduce the sodium, rinse sauerkraut with cold water before using.

Applejack Turkey Sandwich

Another Midwest restaurant favorite: Twisted Seester. A customer inspired this turkey sandwich at The Artichoke Sandwich Bar in Wichita, Kansas. It's a twist on a pastrami sandwich they serve and was named for one of two sisters who was employed there.